


Thorns Regrown

by Firebull



Series: Black Thorn Dragon [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Badass Izayoi Aki, Canon-Typical Violence, Electrocution, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 15:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20509499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firebull/pseuds/Firebull
Summary: Aki is tired of watching the people she loves getting hurt.For the Bad Things Happen Bingo square: Forced to Watch





	Thorns Regrown

How did this go wrong so quickly?

The duel barely started before Sherry activated some weird field spell. Smoke rose around them and before Aki knew it, she was surrounded by a barrier, her duel disk unresponsive. The only thing she could do was watch as Sherry set up an effect damage loop. Real damage at that. Aki suspected that Sherry got those powers from Z-One. 

The Crimson Dragon had acted fast and wrapped a red shield around Crow, but they could all see the cracks Sherry's unrelenting assault left. Aki banged her fists against the barrier, a useless attempt at catching the attention of both duelists. They couldn't hear or see her. It was almost as if she didn't exist. Only the burn of her signer mark reminded her that, yes, she was indeed very real. 

Just as real as the sound of the shield shattering in a million tiny pieces.

Aki froze as Crow's screams echoed through the room. Electricity ran through him again and again and again. She was sure she would be able to smell his charred skin and clothes if it wasn't for the barrier. Her stomach turned as Crow sunk to his knees. Crow tried to hold on as much as possible, but there really was no way he could get away with his life intact. 

And she... Even now she could do nothing but watch as a person she loved got hurt because of her. If she was stronger, she could've already freed herself from this barrier. Had she paid more attention when Sherry activated that field spell, maybe she wouldn't have been trapped by it in the first place. Either way this duel would've already been over and Crow wouldn't get hurt like this. Hell, maybe there wouldn't even be a duel if she'd just used her powers.

She flinched as another scream echoed through the room. She couldn't do this. Not again, never again. 

Misty had believed that she could do good with her powers even while she was a Dark Signer and under the impression that Aki killed her brother. The other signers, the first group of people she could truly call friends, believed in her. Crow- _Crow_ believed in her. He'd been by her side, picking her up and telling her that it was okay to fail sometimes as long as you just kept on going. That nothing she did was useless. He made her feel less silly about all her little insecurities and she won't repay him by watching him die. 

He was her confidant. Her friend. Her l-

Aki's signer mark pulsed and she could feel a familiar energy rise within her. She hadn't used these powers in a while, but they came to her easier than ever as she reached out to them. They echoed her own wish to protect Crow back at her. She removed the control device from her hair and gripped it tightly. This wasn't what it was made for, but it would do.

Aki pulled her hand back before hitting the barrier with all of her strength. It didn't break, but she felt it shudder at the contact. She continued hitting the barrier with it, ignoring how her hand started to hurt. It was nothing compared to Crow's pain. She hit it again and again and again and again. Slowly, barely visible fractures appeared, a web of vulnerability. She slid her free hand over it, dug her magic through the cracks like roots through asphalt. Searched for that one spot that would bring the whole thing crashing down. Come on. Come on. Come o-

There!

She pulled her arm back one last time. Let out a war cry that was echoed by both the Crimson Dragon and Black Rose Dragon. She brought it down with inhuman strength, forcing the device as deep into the barrier as it would go. The lines on it began to glow pink, before both it and the barrier shattered. 

Aki didn't need to summon Black Rose Dragon for it to appear behind her. Its familiar presence behind her made her stand up just a little bit straighter, made her feel just a little bit stronger. Black rose petals started to dance around her. They didn't feel like Black Rose Dragon's. No, these were all hers, waiting for Aki to command them. She reached out towards Crow and a cocoon of black rose petals formed around him. Just in time to block another attack as well. 

Aki glared at Sherry who seemed surprised that Aki managed to escape. How dare she? How dare she do this to them? How dare she hurt Crow like that? 

More black petals whirled around her. She could feel them wrap around Black Rose Dragon and changing it. Could feel its happiness at regaining an old form it had thought forever beyond its reach. They both had regrown the parts of themselves they never should have lost.

With a single roar - so familiar, yet so very different - all of Sherry's cards disappeared into nothingness. Sherry barely had time to be surprised before another roar swept her off her feet and threw her into the planetary gear control. Her head banged against it and she landed in a heap on the floor, unconscious.

Part of Aki wanted to end her, make sure she'd never be able to hurt someone like that again, but no. She pulled herself together as best as she could. Killing Sherry wouldn't accomplish anything good, not when it was clearly something the enemy wanted. Never do what your opponent wants you to do, no matter how much you appeared to gain. Black vines picked around her up, allowing Aki to turn her attention to the petal cocoon. 

It opened as she neared it. Crow yelped as the wall he had been leaning on disappeared. He caught himself easily enough, but let out a pained hiss. 

"Crow!" she screamed as she hastily knelt down in front of him.

Crow lifted his head and gave her a weak smile. "Good to see that you're alright."

"I'm not the one that took all those attacks," she said as she started looking over his wounds. 

She could smell his burned flesh and clothes just as she had predicted. However, just the little breather he got inside of the cocoon had helped enough for his breathing and heartbeat to return to normal. Aki carefully pulled him into a hug and his arms wrapped around her in return. She barely resisted the urge to pull him closer. He was alive. He was still here. She didn't fail him. 

"You saw that?" he asked. 

"I saw everything." 

Aki heard him try to say something, but whatever it was got cut off as he was surrounded by a golden glow. She pulled away from him. Together, they watched in wonder as his wounds closed and his clothes returned to the state they were in before the duel.

"What? How?" she asked. She turned her head to finally look at her dragon. Her changed dragon.

It still looked like Black Rose Dragon, yet not. It was bigger. Its whole body was darker than before, pure black that seemed to absorb all light. Its petals either changed to black or made way for vines and thorns. A row of vines started on top of its now more angular head and went all the way down the back of its neck. Wicked thorns appeared along the top of its wings. And yet, even with all those changes, its eyes still shone with the same golden glow. Aki took comfort in that.

Crow whistled. "That's a great ability you have there!"

It puffed out its petals. 

Crow grinned at it before looking back at her. His eyes and voice went soft. "Hey, I'm alright now. See?" He opened his arms in demonstration, allowing her to see all the places that were cut up just moments before. Now there wasn't so much as a single speck of dirt on him. 

She took ahold of one of his hands and relaxed when he intertwined their fingers. "I know just... give me a bit."

"Take as long as you need to." His eyes wandered back to her dragon. "I gotta say I didn't expect for Black Rose Dragon to transform into that. Fitting though."

"Yeah, it looks pretty creepy, huh?" Just like her. They really did fit together perfectly. 

He tightened his grip on her hand. "The thorns _do_ look intimidating, but that's just your whole deck. At least it's not an actual demon like Jack's. You can't get worse than him."

"Thanks." She frowned. "I guess."

"That's the spirit," Crow said, giving her a thumbs up. "You know its name?"

Aki opened her mouth and nearly choked. A language never meant spoken by humans entered her mind. The words strange, yet their meaning so clear to her. _My love. My only. Be safe. Don't leave me just yet._ "Black Thorn Dragon," she finally said. 

"Very literal."

"Like you have any room to talk. 'Black-Feather Dragon'? Really?"

Crow let out a laugh. "Yeah, I guess we're both in the same boat then."

Aki shook her head and stood up. "Come on, we need to go."

"I know. Can't let Yusei die now," Crow said as he jumped up. He hesitated for a moment, anticipating pain that never came. "Huh."

Aki turned to Black Thorn. "You're not going to turn into card form anytime soon, are you?"

Black Thorn Dragon rustled its petals in amusement. 

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"What should we do about the d-wheels? We can't just leave them here."

"We could-"

Before she could even make her suggestion, vines carefully wrapped around their d-wheels and nestled them within black petals.

"...or that."

"Man, you must be the most practical dragon in existence."

It threw its head back, causing the vines on its head and neck to swish around dramatically. 

They continued on their way with linked hands and Black Thorn Dragon hovering over them.


End file.
